


Flicker

by Alexa_Piper



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: A Christmas Truce gift that I didn't realise I hadn't crossposted onto Ao3, Angst, Gen, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Identity Reveal, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26486434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexa_Piper/pseuds/Alexa_Piper
Summary: She pretended that everything was fine, until it wasn't.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 82





	Flicker

“Hey, Mum?”

“Hm?”

“Can we talk upstairs?”

Maddie carefully put the lid back onto her petri dish and drew the fume cover fully into place. “What is it, Sweetie?” she asked, only pulling back her hood and goggles after peeling off her gloves. Danny was already halfway back to the stairs, but he paused as she faced him. “Daniel Fenton, how many times have I told you to at least wear a lab coat and gloves down here if you won’t bother with your suit?” She pulled on a new set of gloves as she spoke, snapping the plastic against her forearms in an effort to make her point.

He shrugged halfheartedly. “Sorry.” She tossed him some gloves but he twisted them in his hands instead of putting them on. His eyes reflected the portal’s muted green light. “Um… I know you’re busy and everything, but I was wondering, um… if we could have dinner as a family tonight.”

The shadows on his face drew lines from the corners of eyes and mouth, and he drooped like a dying plant.

“Oh, Sweetie,” she sighed, and stepped away from her samples. She needed to finish studying them tonight, before the ectoplasm withered into nothing. She didn’t know why it faded away like that, but without a core, and without the Ghost Zone sustaining it, it could only last a short while… But Danny looked so lonely standing in the middle of the lab, twisting the gloves in his grasp and looking down at his shoes when she didn’t answer right away.

His clear disappointment won her over. “I think we could all benefit from that.”

His gaze shot back up, and his smile was relief that loosened the lines in his brow. “Thanks,” he said, and tossed the gloves in the bin. “I was thinking maybe we could get pizza, or that really good Thai stuff that we had for your birthday, or otherwise we could have Indian?”

“We can have whatever you want.” She shooed him towards the stairs and he began to climb them with heavy steps. They were slow and solid, and as she followed, she kept waiting for him to miss one. He knew he was being watched, and he was always so careful around other people, but whenever she discovered him walking down the hallway, or in the kitchen late at night, his footsteps didn’t make a sound until he knew she was there. She’d previously written it off as general lightness of feet, but now, she needed to reevaluate.

Jack and Jazz were waiting for them in the kitchen, menus strewn across the table as they argued about what to order. Maddie was suddenly grateful that she’d agreed to join them. There was a gauntness to their expressions that weighed against her, and she took a seat as Danny decided on Thai. Once their orders were put through that new Uber app on his phone, they all sat around the table, and she wondered why this felt more like a meeting than a family evening.

Danny folded his arms across the table, accidentally brushing against her skin. He pulled back with a hiss, and Maddie tried to keep her face blank at the frigidity of his touch. He was still as cold as yesterday, when she’d held him close and his blood had soaked through the knees of her thin Halloween costume.

It had been a terrible ghost attack. He should have died in her arms… but he’d breathed, and blinked, and then everything fell away. She’d woken up that morning and walked downstairs and he’d been cleaning up from breakfast. No blood. No death. The sight had convinced her that it had all been a terrible nightmare.

Jazz cleared her throat. “So, um, what’s the occasion?”

Dany shrugged. Even away from the portal, his eyes held that soft emerald sheen. “We don’t spend time together much anymore, mostly because I’m never around,” he confessed. “I realised that I’m so… so lucky to have you guys, and I… I just wanted to…” He sniffed, and wiped at a tear that shone brighter than it should have in the dull kitchen light. “I wanted to say that I love you guys,” he choked.

“Oh, Sweetie,” Maddie sighed, and looped an arm around his shoulders. He was freezing, even through his shirt, and out of the corner of her eye his body seemed almost translucent. She wouldn’t say anything yet, though. Not until he brought it up. She didn’t want it to be real. “We love you too.”

Pressed against her side, he was still. She breathed, but he… didn’t.

Maddie felt like she’d been punched in the chest. She squeezed her arm around her son, closing her eyes for a moment and trying to think of how to approach the topic. “Danny, last night…”

He leaned against her. “I know.” That simple admittance smashed her thoughts to shreds, but she held tighter to him, as though the simple hug would keep him with her.

“Sweetie,” she whispered, and blinked as burning tears slid down her cheeks, “tell me what happened.”

He shrugged against her, and Maddie’s blurry vision cleared enough to see the confusion on Jack’s face. Jazz was different though — she was already crying, and blotted at tears with the sleeve of her jumper.

“It’s a long story,” Danny said, and his voice was a whisper that crackled like wind in a blizzard. “I know you’ve probably noticed things in the past, but I’ve been… something else, for a few years now, and I defeated the ghost king a while back, and I didn’t know how things worked with right of conquest or whatever, but now… they came for me last night. I convinced them to give me one more day, but… I guess I wasted it. I got you guys home, and spent all night writing everything down, and today I said my goodbyes.” His voice cracked, and he scrubbed a hand over his face. “They’ll be here in a minute. I’m sorry.”

She pulled back and grabbed him by the shoulders, ignoring how her fingers sunk halfway into his skin before hitting a solid layer. “Who’s coming? Danny, what did they do to you?”

His eyes shone like bright green stars, flickering as glowing tears poured free. “I’m sorry,” he whispered again, tightly, like he was fighting back sobs.

“No spook’ll take my son!” Jack roared, ripping a blaster from its holster and waving it through the air.

Jazz stood up, and moved to stand at Danny’s other side. “We’ll come find you,” she promised, and carded her fingers through his hair. The black was filtering away, fading into a soft silver that slowly bleached to blinding white.

Danny shook his head, and Jack’s gun clattered to the floor. “Danno? You’re… You look like…”

He smiled then, through his tears, and Maddie wondered how she hadn’t seen it before. “Yep,” he said, “I’m Phantom. Full confession’s in a letter on my desk.” The smile dropped away again, and he gave a shuddering sigh. “I really… r-really love you guys.”

He was fading more now, and shadows rose from the floorboards, like wisps of green steam. Maddie couldn’t make out much beyond high-collared cloaks and huge eyeballs, but her touch suddenly sank right through her transparent son.

He gave another sad, tear-stained smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” A crown of green fire wrapped around his brow. “I love you guys.”

His sister lurched forward with a cry, but Maddie blinked and he was gone. Jazz crumpled to the floor, her shoulders tremoring as she sobbed into her hands.

Maddie stared at the spot where he’d disappeared. She wanted to tell herself that it was all a trick, that this had been some crazy post-Halloween joke…

Her heart knew the truth though. She sank back into her chair, laid her head on her arms, and wept.


End file.
